Colloquium Service Learning Experience

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Service Learning Reflection Essay
Colloquium has been one of the greatest eye-opening experiences/course of my college career. It has really given me the opportunity to focus on the beauty and magnificence of the natural world around me and the necessity of wild life from a human, plant and animal perspective. For my Colloquium service learning I volunteered with one of the original teachers who helped get the FGCU food forest up and running. During the service learning experience, we pull weeds from the grounds of two different areas and replace the soil to provide soils for planting flowers and other types of plants. This was done because a local school that care for students with ADHD uses these natural environments as an area to play and …show more content…

Second we took to the playground found in Three Oaks Parkway (located next to the tennis courts). In my service learning we talked about the importance of the outdoors and how servicing the areas that we did would make a difference in the community and the lives of the students with ADHD. We spoke on some of the restorative effects that a green environment can have on children in the community and how it is used to relax students with ADHD. We actually had the opportunity to talk to and observe students with ADHD use these green or restorative. We observed how the environment was used as a therapeutic tool to reduce the effects of ADHD. According to Louv (2011), the usage of such methods of treatment in children, most notably preschoolers, has increased dramatically in the last few years. The second current method of therapy is behavioral intervention. This method includes activities such as positive reinforcement of favored behaviors (Taylor et al, 2011). The positive outcome of this method is generally a reduced need for medication (savings for parents) which ultimately reduces the medical side-effects …show more content…

(2011). Nature-deficit disorder and the restorative environment. University colloquium: a sustainable future. XanEdu Publishing, Inc. 138 Great Road Action, MA 01720.

Taylor, A.F, & Kuo, F. (2011). Could exposure to everyday green spaces help treat ADHD? Evidence from children's play settings. Applied Psychology: Health & Well-Being, 3(3), 281-303. doi:10.1111/j.1758-0854.2011.01052.x:

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